Setting the Scene for the Town of GerdenshawSister Jeraldine Jonas a young woman of 15 years and is not properly accepting suitors. This is because she is in love with Brother Cleamus a handsome but simple minded young man who is virtuous in his own simple way. Brother Cleamus Cobb’s family are dirt poor farmers at the edge of town who have had a hard time getting by since Ma Cobb died giving birth to the youngest child Sister Emily who has a limiting palsy but is mentally acute (think Jewel in Deadwood). Pa Cobb is elderly and has a hard time getting things done, Cleamus who has recently turned 16 and had a massive growth spurt is workhorse. This years crop is the first in many years that their has come in ok as Cleamus was able to really help. Jeraldine and Cleamus grew up next to each other and have grown into their love although Jeraldine is slightly embarrassed by it (think Forrest Gump and whats her name although Jeraldine is not filled with the same kind of self loathing).Brother Ezra Jonas has the most successful farm in the area and it is adjacent to the Cobb farm. Brother Ezra knows that his daughter likes Brother Cleamus but has forbidden her to follow her feelings as Cleamus is “…too stupid to properly court her and it ain’t seemly for her to court him.”. Brother Ezra is also concerned about what would happen to his farm if Cleamus were to marry into the family in terms of social status and maintenance. Sister Jeraldine knows enough to run the farm, especially with the physical help from although Cleamus, although this would not be a proper role for a woman to fill.Brother Alden Siphus is Jeraldines is Jeraldines main suitor and he is angry that Sister Jeraldine wont accept him. Brother Martin Siphus is the towns Blacksmith and Alden is his son. Brother Martin and his wife Sister Alma have found out that Sister Jeraldine is sweet on Cleamus which has enfuriated Sister Alma Siphus.

PrideSister Jeraldine feels that since she and Brother Cleamus love each other, they should be able to marry despite what her father says. She is not willing to openly defy her father but is engaged in passive aggressive behaviour by not accepting suitors.

Brother Ezra feels that his daughter is too good for Brother Cleamus.

Brother Alden feels that Sister Jeraldine should love him since he “aint no gimpy head”. This view is supported and encouraged by his parents Brother Martin and particularily by Sister Alma.

Brother Martin suffers from greed in that he covets the Jonas farm for his family. He is also starting to realize that if the Cobbs are gone their land could be absorbed into the Jonas farm.

The injustice is that two young people who are in love can’t marry.

Lies: Sister Alma has begun saying that Sister Emily is a witch as proven by the success of their crops and the birth defects of the baby recently born to the Samuel family. The unusual growth of Brother Cleamus is also a cause for speculation and accusation. Sister Alma is also concerned about the virtue of poor Jeraldine, after all who knows what would happen if Cleamus was taken by fit of demented lust.

Demonic Attacks: A recently born baby deformed with a badly clubbed foot and a cleft pallet, poor girl. Although the Cobb crops are more successful than normal partly due to Cleamus now being big enough to be a real help to his pa, they seem unusually successful compared to a number of other crops which have blighted. The Jonas crops have not failed. The demons have been making Emily seem more disturbing/freakish in order to inflame predjudice against her and her family.

False DoctrineThe Siphus family has been spreading talk of how “the unfit ain’t clean in the eyes of the Father of Life”. With the demonic attacks folks are starting to heed the hateful words of Sister Alma. Almas Pride is enflamed by the social power she is gaining as a result.

Corrupt Worship The Siphus family has taken to praying that the unclean Cobbs be washed away by the Father of Life. Their words are of course heard by demons.

False Priesthood Sister Alma has or will become a sorcerous leading the cult that starts out with the three members of the Jonas family. She tries to recruit others to the cause to further her power base. The easiest target is of course the Samuel family due to their deformed baby girl and any others who have had problems with crops.

Sorcery Sister Alma is a behind the scenes kind of Sorcerer. She doesn’t yet want to directly attack the Cobbs and would rather have others do the work for her. Some tactics she might try:• Getting a demon to possess Emily to make her do evil and make others believe she is a witch. She might try to steal the Samuel baby before it can be named by the Dogs.• Possessing Cleamus with a demon that forces him to rape Jeraldine.

Hate and MurderPossessing Brother Ezra Jonas so that he will try to harm the Cobbs. Ideally he will succeed and wind up dead or mutilated which will allow Alden to marry Jeraldine and Ezra will be out of the way paving the road to a take over of the town. Another possibility is that if Emily is possessed to get the town Steward (Beuford) to Kill Emily and ideally declare the family a cult then the whole town can become a mob performing mass murder.

Named Characters and what they want

Brother Cleamus Cobb: Loves Jeraldine Jonas and wants to marry her. He also wants to look after his family.

Sister Emily Cobb: Wants Cleamus to marry Jeraldine as this gives her hope to find love as she wants to have a family of her own although she doubts this will ever happen.

Brother Pa Cobb: Is concerned about the grumbling around town and is worried about what will happen to his family when he passes.

Sister Jeraldine Jonas: Wants to marry Cleamus but she does not yet want to go against her fathers wishes.

Brother Ezra Jonas: Wants his daughter to accept Alden Siphus as a suitor, or failing that another “proper” fella.

Brother Alden Siphus: Wants to marry Jeraldine and is angry that he has been rejected in favour of a simpleton.

Brother Martin Siphus: Is ashamed for his sons “humiliation”. He wants the Jonas farm, and is starting to feel that the Cobb farm is his due for the humiliation his family is suffering.

Sister Alma Siphus: Doesn’t want people to know she is a Sorcerous. She wants the Dogs to declare Emily a witch and the Cobb family a cult, then go away leaving the town to her.

Brother Asmoda Sammuel: Wants his baby named by the Dogs and somebody to blame for his families misfortune.

Steward Beuford: Wants the Dogs to think he is doing a good job. He knows something is wrong but has not been able to figure out what. He is a good man but is out of his depth.

This is the first RPG I will have played in about 15 years as it is the first game that has gotten me excited to play. So I want the first game to rock to really get the players into the world and get them equally excited about the game. Here are some questions that I have:

Is the injustice and pride sufficient to warrent the demonic escalation?

How far along should Sister Alma be on the dark path? I want things to be exciting but I dont want to be over the top to soon.

How hostile should the town be to the Cobbs? I guess that will be determined by the previous questions answer right?

In another post Vincent reccomended that there should be three sides to the conflict which is what I have tried to have here, but I am worried that it will be too transparent. I am also kind of wondering if that is a problem...

But go over the top right now, before play starts. Sister Alma's a sorceress, and she's caused hate and murder. This business of "tactics she might try" - choose one and make it to have happened. The Dogs show up and whatever she's planning, she did it yesterday, and the town is in shock about it.

Transparency in your town is your friend, so is over-the-topness. The dice rules will muddy things plenty, all by themselves, that's their job.

But go over the top right now, before play starts. Sister Alma's a sorceress, and she's caused hate and murder. This business of "tactics she might try" - choose one and make it to have happened. The Dogs show up and whatever she's planning, she did it yesterday, and the town is in shock about it.

Transparency in your town is your friend, so is over-the-topness. The dice rules will muddy things plenty, all by themselves, that's their job.

-Vincent

Thanks for the advice! Here is time line for how I am going to set it up: Last night: Alma kidnaps the Sammuel baby.This morning: Brother Asmodaia (I like the sound of his name with an extra "a" on the end) discovers the baby is missing and freaks out, he goes into town to get Steward Beuford to help him find the baby. This afternoon Alma knew he would be comming into town and has him interrupted by Martin and Alden who convince him it was the Cobbs. The Steward tries to calm people down while the "bad guys" try rile up the town and country side. Alden goes out to the Jonas farm and gets Ezra to come into town. The bad guys have numbers and demonic influence on their side so they will "win" and get a mob going.Later this afternoon: The Dogs arrive at the Jonas farm (one of them will be related) and Jeraldine spills the beans and the action starts.

Here are some redone sections to better fit this plot line:

SorcerySister Alma is using her corrupt powers to whip the town into a frenzy. She will possess Brother Ezra and Brother Asmodaia to do the bulk of the dirty work. If she needs to she will possess her own family as well but would rather use pawns.

Hate and MurderSister Alma has kidnapped Brother Asmodaia’s baby girl and is blaming the Cobbs, particularily Emily, for the kidnapping. The town is all riled up and looking for blood, Sister Alma is waiting for night to fall in order to possess Brother Ezra and Brother Asmodaia and get them to murder the Cobbs, and to work the town up into as much of a murderous frenzy as possible. She intends for Brother Ezra to not survive the conflict. The baby that Sister Alma has stolen also needs to disappear, the demons will tell Alma that she can have everything she wants if she just sacrifices the baby to them and Alma knows she can’t be found with the baby.

What if the Dogs never come to GerdenshawSteward Beuford will try to stop the mob and be killed by Brothers Ezra and Cobb, the blood of the innocent Steward sets off the powder keg. The towns folk who think its wrong are no match for Sorceress Alma and they also die. The Cobbs are the next on the chopping block. Sorceress Almas cult takes over the town, those who realize the horror of their actions take their own lives or are rooted out as “heretics” by the cult members who have fallen deeply into Corrupt Worship.

I am gaming the town tonight and will post how it goes, I am super excited about this :)

Sorry about taking so long to get back on this, but you know how it is. We didn't wind up finishing the game (which was one excuse I was using for not posting) but here is a quick summary of how it went:

There were 3 players Todd, Melanie and Elizabeth. Todd and Mel and I game every couple of months or so but Elizabeth had NEVER role played before, so uh no pressure there :)

The Characters:Elizabeth played Sister Violet: Strong History, high Will, Low Heart. She took Todds character as 1d8 friend, and notable skills were "Specially Skilled with animals 2d8" and "Well Read 1d8". Her family came from out east and ran into trouble crossing the mountains. They were rescued by the mountain people but not before her mother died, which she blamed her father for. Both Violet and her sister wound up joining the Dogs, although her younger sister was just starting when Violet was completing the training. We played her accomplishment first which was "I want to train a carrier pidgeon". Unfortunately she rolled really poorly and more unfortunately I was clumsy with the dice resolution and wound up stifling her with a couple of my raises and sees instead of playing off what she was narrating. The plus side of that was that I quickly recognized what I was doing and was able to keep things flowing in future conflicts.

Todd played Brother Jedathon Pratt: Complicated Community with high Acuity and low Will. Jedathon was treated poorly by his pa which led to "I'm uncomfortable around bombastic men 1d6". Before he left the family to join the Territorial Army for a spell he picked up a love of reading: "I read alot 3d6" and found an outlet for his frustrated rage "I took out my aggression when slaughtering hogs 1d6". Just a little bit scary but still pretty cool :) The complicated community continues with the following relationships: other dogs 3d4, mountain folk 2d8, bibliophiles 2d10 and territorial army 2d6. His accomplishment was "I stood up to a bully". The bully was Brother Isaac a hard ass instructor who decided to tear a piece off of Violet for displaying "gluttony" after chowing down in the mess hall when she came back from a training forced march in the hills. I forget the details but Jedathon made look bad, Isaac threaten violence and was chastised and put in his place by other senior dogs.

Melanie played Brother Nathaniel: Who came from a Complicated History and had low Heart and high Body. I forget why now bu he "Hates his past family 2d6" but was taken in by a "Father Figure - Retired Dog 2d8" who gave Nathanial his coat (2d8) when he joined the Dogs. Nathanial is a bit of a fanatic: "I hate strayers from the path 1d10", "I am a zealous dog 1d10" and "Hates to loose 1d4". He also is a bit of gun nut with "I am meticulous at maintaining my guns". His accomplishment was to proove he was a tough guy. This was played out as a series of escalating training bouts with other initiates and ending with Brother Isaac, who wound up beating him down.

I just found out that Elizabeth wont be gaming tonight so I wont be able to finish of Gerdenshaw. I will be running the Lavina and Hiram town (one of the other posters called it Nazareth Summit) with a few tweaks instead. I had contemplated doing a Zombies in the Vineyard set in Thailand during the Tsunami of 2004, but I dont have time to research it. Maybe next time...

Anyway here is the actual play:

We decided that Jedathon would be a cousin of the Jonas family and that Violet would be related to the Sammuels. The Dogs were on their way to Gerdenshaw to name the new Sammuel baby and carry out other routine Dogtivities. The path that they were taking put the Jonas property between them and the town, since it was getting to be around dinner time they thought they would stop by on the way to town. When they ride up Jeraldine and Mrs. Jonas come running out in tears and spill the beans about whats been going on. She goes on about how she loves B. Cleamus but her daddy (B.Ezra dont approve) and how the Siphus men been badmouthing the Cobbs all around town. Things was bad enough but then when the Sammuels baby got born with those tragic deformaties folks started sayin it was the Cobbs fault bringin thier gimpy bad luck to the crops and babies alike. Then when the Sammuels baby done went missing, folks just started sayin that it was Sister Emily Cobb what took her, and worse that she had the evil eye and was maybe even a witch. The fact that the Cobb farm only started doing well when so many others were having failed crops caused more problems. Sister Jeraldine said she knows better than to believe such tales, especially since she has known them her whole life but the men folk are all riled up and likely to do something crazy.

At this point Sister Alma has stolen the baby and gotten the ball of wickedness rolling. Alma and Martin Siphus have wiped a bunch of folks into a dangerous mob and Alden has been out to the Jonas farm to fetch Ezra back to town to join the mob and get "glamoured" by Alma. The mob is joined by Asmodaia Sammuel and a bunch of dupes from town.

The Dogs decide to go out to the Cobb farm and see whats up there. The realize that Emily + Cleamus + Pa Cobb could indeed be a cult and if so they need to get the baby fast before something sinister happens. They show up at the Cobb farm looking for action and find none. Emily is "grotesqued" by the demonic influence, Cleamus is unaware of what is going on around town and Pa Cobb is very worried about all of the slander and how exposed his family is. Emily is also aware of the recent hatred and doesn't understand why people have to hate them for being different and finally having their luck turn. Emily heats up some biscuits and beans for the Dogs (since they are hungry from the road) while the story comes out.

By now its about dusk and the posse rides up. Right away the Dogs know something is foul in Denmark, the mob has torches and the torch and moonlight glitters off of weapons, breath from the horses steams evily and everyone is over agitated and excited. Alden and Marten Siphus have an unnatural wind in their hair and on their persons and their eyes have the same crazy reflective glow as the weapons. Ezra and Asmodaia are at the front of the mob and looking for blood. The dogs had been waiting on the Cobbs porch and the mob thought that they were the Cobbs, when they realize that they are Dogs alot of them realize that they are in the wrong. Marten and Alden encourage Ezra and Asmodaia to bully their way in. During this conflict the Dogs ask where the Steward is, and find out that he has been chained to Martens anvil back at his shop since he wouldn't join the mob and in so doing was protecting the witch and her kin. At this point the Dogs explode in righteous fury, Ezra and Asmodaia realize how far towards darkness they have gone and break down.

The Siphus men, or at least the demons that possess them, loose their patience and try to ride over the Dogs and into the house. Marten takes the lead and things get bloody. Martens horse is shot out from under him and he winds up taking a round or two as well, his unclean gore spatters onto Jedathons coat staining it unnaturally. The dice are looking bad for the Siphus men and at this point Alden gives and flees. Darkness and smoke from the torches and gun fire protect him, as it does all things of wickedness, from a few extra shots that speed him on his way. The demon possessing Marten is exorcised by Jeduthan and leaves his body in the form of an oily smoke exiting from the two bullet holes in his left lung. Once the demon is gone he weeps for the wickedness that he has done and memory of the uncleanness that had ridden within him. At this point we dont know if he lives or dies but at least he has found his way back to the Father of Life. All of this was a lot of fun, the Dogs were into their Righteous Anger. When the Siphus men were trying to force their way in the Dogs all stepped forward into the torch/moon light together and gave the symbol of the Tree of Life spooking the possessed mens horses and causing Marten to loose his saddle. Rockin good times :)

While Jeduthon was taking care of Martens dark rider, Violet and Nathanial give pursuit to Alden. The stakes are "Do we stop Alden from getting back to town". This was pretty cool, Alden using moon shadow behind the hills and his knowledge of the land while the Dogs used their recently learned skills and Violet was spurred on by the nearly certain knowledge that one of the Siphuses had stolen her neice the Sammuel baby. Alden Escalated from physical to physical violence: when Violet grabbed for coat tails he raked her thigh with his unnaturally sharp spur. At this point she rolled badly and Alden really rolled up this caused her to take the blow and let go of his coat. Having taken a bunch of fallout Violet gave in at this point and stopped the chase to bandage up her leg. She felt that it was better to get to town alive than to bleed out on the chase, after all they were pretty sure everything was going on at the Siphus family blacksmith shop. Nathaniel who had ridden up on the other side tried to grapple Alden off of his horse. Alden reversed the blow and wound up pulling Nathaniel off of his horse instead. Nathanial used his Zealous and Hates to loose traits to keep his grip on Alen and jumped from his own horse onto Aldens as his See and Raised by Escalating to gun play. Now to make sure we are clear on the situation, Aldens right leg is hung over his horses rump and he is hanging onto his saddle horn with his left hand, while Nathanial has his legs dangling off of one side of Aldens horse, has his left hand twisting the handkerchief around Aldens neck as a garrote/handle. Both of them have a gun in hand and blasting at each other with muzzel to body contact or as close as they can get with the precariousness of their situation and the bouncing of the galloping horse. Very intense and a lot of fun. Both of them wind up Taking a Blow here and both fall off the horse. The roll on rough ground wind up a few yards apart. Alden realizes he cant get away, Nathaniel wont quit since he is a fanatic and they trade of the last few dice in shots some of which miss due to shaky hands, concussed vision from the fall and darkness due to being on the non-moonlit side of the hill. Nathanial has only a dice or two left and "wins" the conflict: Alden doesn't make it back to Town.

Violet only sees the flashes of gunfire but has no idea who hit who or what the outcome was. She rides up to the two prone forms and realizes bad things are for Nate. She gives first aid, helped by her extensive studies she manages to patch up the hole in his shoulder and belly since they are the ones that look most critical. Nate tells Violet to return to his coat to his adoptive father and to let him know he done his best. She tells him it will all be ok and that his Pa will be proud of the Dog he has become. In the darkness she misses the shot that grazed his neck from which he bleeds out into the handkerchief which kept the trail dust out of his collar. Violet now realizes that Alden is gurgling his life away a few paces away. She strides over and blows him away, then performs the last rites for a fallen Brother of the Faith.